15th December 2009

The third edition of the guide to good practice in the management of controlled drugs in primary care (England) is now available and takes into account the significant legislative changes, introduced by the government, to strengthen the governance arrangements for controlled drugs. The guide, which can be downloaded from the link below, is primarily aimed at developing good practice for the management of controlled drugs in primary care in England, but also encompasses issues raised at the interfaces between primary, secondary and social care.

MHRA recalls metatone tonic

15th December 2009

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has recalled metatone tonic 300mL (Chefaro UK, batch number 112) due to low level contamination with petrol. This product is available on the General Sales List (GSL) i.e. it can be purchased in the community.

Thank you for your support

9th December 2009

A big thank you to all of the 60 members who completed a recent survey when invited to do so. They are helping to keep palliativedrugs.com a free access resource. In appreciation of their help, 5 members selected at random to receive a free copy of Symptom Management in Advanced Cancer 4e were Dr Georgina Parker, Dr Alexa Clark, Dr Humaira Jamal, Dr Jill Stewart, all from the UK, and Dr Drew Rosielle from the USA. In addition, as first selected, Dr Parker will also be able to donate £120 to a registered charity of her choice.
Without the help of these members we would have to charge a subscription fee. Please can all members consider supporting us in this way if invited to complete a survey.

EAPC framework for sedation in palliative care

3rd December 2009

The European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) has produced a recommended framework for the development of institutional guidelines on the use of sedation in palliative care. The framework provides guidance on how to prepare, organize, initiate, titrate, monitor and evaluate the sedation procedure.